Man who walked free from court after assaulting girlfriend kills her weeks later in brutal attack
14 November 2022, 19:58
A man who walked free from court after attacking his girlfriend has been jailed after murdering her two weeks later.
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Robert Massey abused Jacqueline Forest in mid-August after going to her property with an iron bar and attempting to kick down the front door.
It resulted in him being given an 18-month community order at Liverpool Magistrates' Court and being banned from attending her address for 28 days.
But by the end of the month, he had murdered her.
Ms Forest and Massey had been in a relationship since the summer of 2020 and had lived together in Haydock, Merseyside, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
Massey attacked Ms Forest, 49, on August 31 after finding messages on her phone which "suggested she had been unfaithful with two other men".
He then stabbed her in the womb with a kitchen knife, "preoccupied" with the thought that she was pregnant after finding a pregnancy test. It was later confirmed she was not expecting a baby.
Paramedics attended but Ms Forest was sadly pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of death was given as blunt force trauma to the head and manual asphyxiation by strangulation or suffocation.
Massey also planned to kill the men Ms Forest had been messaging - Anthony Murphy and Graham Roberts - by luring one to an apartment and attacking him with the murder weapon, and striking the other with a pair of scissors while at work, the court heard.
On Thursday, The 43-year-old, of Piele Road, pleaded guilty to murdering Ms Forrest, and was sentenced to a minimum of 28 years in prison.
He also pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of the two men Mr Murphy and Mr Roberts.
Read more: Serving Lancashire PC charged with attempted murder at Manchester Premier Inn
Detective Chief Inspector Allison Woods said: "This was a truly shocking and brutal assault which led to the tragic death of Jacqueline Forest in her own home.
"Nobody can begin to understand the impact the circumstances and fact of her sudden death has had on her family and friends.
"Nothing can bring Jacqueline back but I hope that the prison sentence Massey must now serve will give them a sense of justice and allow them to finally move on with their lives.
"Merseyside Police continues to do everything it can to tackle all violence against women and girls and we will do everything in our power to support victims, target perpetrators and reduce violence by ensuring victims of domestic abuse feel believed and supported when they report offending to us.
"Domestic abuse is a complex issue and can take many forms. It can be psychological, financial, sexual, emotional and physical and we want to raise awareness of the support that is available to anyone who is or has experienced domestic abuse or has been affected by it so that nobody else has to suffer or silence or go through what they have been through.
"We work closely with local domestic support organisations, local authorities, safeguarding teams and charities to ensure that services and ongoing support are available, including access to refuges.
"We have a number of specialist departments within the police to investigate these crimes but it’s important that we all work together to support survivors and collectively work to prevent these crimes occurring in the first place by raising awareness."
